Second Half Struggles Doom Yeowomen Against Allegheny

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The women’s lacrosse team has played well recently, winning two of its last three games to push its record to 7–3. The Yeowomen defeated the Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops 10–9 on April 9 and trounced the Washington & Jefferson College Presidents by a score of 18–3 on Saturday afternoon. On Thursday night, the team’s winning streak ended as they fell to 15–9 to the Allegheny College Gators.

The Yeowomen’s win against the Presidents came with ease; Head Coach Lynda McCandlish referred to it as “not a challenge — a stress free game.” Ten different Yeowomen scored to secure the victory.

“This shows how much depth we have and the wide range of skills the whole team possesses,” said first-year goalkeeper Alexa L’Insalata.

Senior defender, co-captain and Review Sports Editor Sarah Orbuch and sophomore defender Emily Kipling each got their time in the limelight, scoring their first and second goals of the season respectively. Sophomore midfielder Grace

Barlow racked up four goals to add to her team-leading season total of 35. The Yeowomen dominated on Washington & Jefferson’s turf, leading 27–8 in total shots, 21–9 in ground balls, and 14–9 in draw controls. Barlow and first-year attacker Marissa Maxfield led the team in draw controls with three apiece.

Barlow highlighted the attack’s success as critical to the team dynamic.

“We had a very balanced attack, which is important because our attack is very young. The more confidence we have, the better we can play as a team.”

The Yeowomen’s win over the Bishops wasn’t as easily achieved. The team broke ahead in the first half after trading goals with the Bishops when senior Sarah Andrews, sophomore Suzanna Doak, first year Sara Phister and Barlow scored consecutive goals to give the team a five-goal lead.

Although the Yeowomen were ahead 8–5 at the half, the Bishops came back with the first two goals of the second half to keep the game a nail-biter to the end.

This win was the product of strong per severance by the Yeowomen.

“We were consistent in the first and second halves. They came back, but we were able to hang on to the ball and keep possession,” Barlow said.

“The defense did great anticipating [the Bishops’] attack,” McCandlish said. “They caused turnovers that gave the offense some great opportunities.”

McCandlish cited several defenders as standouts, specifically Orbuch, Kipling and first-year Courtney Bolden, along with another strong performance by L’Insalata, who leads the North Coast Athletic Conference in save percentage and made 10 saves against the Bishops.

From the goal line, L’Insalata thought the team’s positioning looked good the entire week.

“In both games, we improved spreading out and getting back on transition. It’s evident we took what we learned in practice and applied it.”

Even though the game against OWU was more challenging, Barlow noted the importance of the team’s mental compo sure when playing the Presidents.

“It’s important that we maintain mental focus — playing our game and our defense. The past few games have been good practice for us to maintain intensity despite what the scoreboard shows,” she said.

L’Insalata echoed the importance of maintaining composure.

“We’ve already passed the benchmark of winning games from last year, and now it’s about proving our skill to the other teams and getting focused,” she said.

Against the Gators, the Yeowomen stormed back from a 6–1 deficit and trailed by just one late in the first half. Ultimately, however, their efforts fell short after the team failed to continue its strong play in the second half.

Though the final score may not have reflected it, the team felt it was just a few plays away from making the game a closer one.

“If some shots would have gone our way, the score would have been different,” McCandlish said.

The Yeowomen will travel to Hiram College to take on the Terriers this Saturday before returning home for their final week of play, beginning with a 7 p.m. game against Wittenberg University on April 23.